Electronic Medical Record Systems - Demo Slides

This is the full screen shot of a typical Home Page for electronic medical record systems.

I have broken the full screen shot into two parts to look at each better.

The first part is the mid section of the screen.

This is the mid section of the Patient Locator screen in an EMR.

The Patient Locator shows where patients are from the point of check in.

As soon as a patient checks in, the clock begins on that particular section and anyone in the office (including the physician) knows that this patient is in the waiting room and how long the patient has been there.

The same process happens when a patient is put into an exam room - anyone can see at anytime what patient is in what room and how long they have been there.

As you can see, this particular electronic medical record offers various views: one can view per provider or more than one provider, view by month, by week or by day.

This is basically the electronic medical record Home Page for everyone in the office including the physician because it shows where all patients are, how long they have been waiting, and the purpose of the visit.

This graphic is the left section of the screen shot which is the "tool bar".

This page also serves as the physician's "office" because at this page, the doctor has access to various tasks on the left toolbar that he or she would typically do from their desk in their office.

**If electronic medical record systems are interfaced properly with the Practice Management, all patient info and schedules will be "dumped" right into EMR system.***

In the screen shot above, this is a "bi-directional" interface EMR system.

Bi-directional means that the necessary practice management information goes to the electronic medical record, and vice versa (billing from the EMR goes back to practice management).

*****This is why it is critical to know what, if any, practice management system is already packaged in any electronic medical record you purchase.*****

Will the vendor make you switch Practice Management systems? If the vendor doesn't make you switch, are they actually able to write the interface? How much will the EMR Vendor charge for the interface on the practice management side? How much will the will the EMR Vendor charge for the interface on the electronic medical record side? Have they ever written an interface? Is it bidirectional? What is the monthly maintenance fee on interface?

I can't overemphasize how crucial this decision will be to your practice. You must find out what, if any, practice management system is any EMR you are looking at and what will happen if its not the same one you are using.